In today's society, it is often and evermore necessary for parents to transport young infants. No longer are infants left at home, but rather, the parents tote them along wherever they go. To that end, infant seats have been designed which have carrying handles attached to the infant seat for ease in transporting the infant. Further, infant seats have been designed such that the handles may be pivotally locked so that the angle of the infant seat can be adjusted.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,175 to Wise discloses a generally U-shaped handle pivotally mounted to the sides of an infant seat such that the handle is transverse to the longitudinal length of the infant seat. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,850 to Brownlie and U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,325 to Hamilton et al. disclose a carrying handle that is transverse to the infant seat.
In using these devices, the user's arm is often positioned such that the palm of the hand is facing forward or backward. As one can readily appreciate, this is an awkward position for carrying an infant. In particular, with that position of the hand, the arm is an unnatural position and can become easily fatigued. Further, while carrying a baby in an infant seat, it is necessary to keep the seat away from one's body so that the seat is not accidentally kicked or bumped. Accordingly, there must be some space between the infant seat and the user's body. This requires the user to further extend the arm from the body.
Thus, there is a need for a handle on an infant seat which will permit the user to carry the infant in a more natural position such that the palm of the hand is facing the body, for example, as with a suitcase or briefcase. Normally, when one carries a suitcase, the palm of the hand is facing the side of the body of the user. In that position, the arm is more relaxed and subject to less fatigue from carrying the infant.
While it is possible with known infant devices to carry them with the palm of the hand facing the body, it is awkward. With prior art devices, at least half of the length of the baby seat is between the user's hand and body. This requires that the arm is extended further from the body and thus, it is more difficult to carry the infant seat for a long period of time.